Exodus
chapter 35 begins, “Moses
assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, ‘These are
the things the Lord has commanded you to do…”.
Moses is about to assign the daunting task of building the
Tabernacle to God’s exacting specifications. Much hard work lays
ahead, but before he gives them any direction to work, he puts things
in order according to God’s priorities. “For
six days work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy
day, a Sabbath day to the Lord“.
The first job God gives them is to remember to rest in Him! Psalm
127:1 puts it this way, “Unless
the Lord builds the house, those who work, labor in vain“.
How often we begin our “service to the Lord” without the
Lord being involved. Moses continues regarding the Sabbath, “Whoever
does any work on it must be put to death“.
Wow, as with murder, adultery and Idolatry, this is personal to God.
As we have discussed, as Christians, we believe that our place in
eternity was paid for by the sacrifice of Christ. We “earn”
eternity by simply believing Jesus was who He said He was.
Symbolically we are given rest first, because all the work for
salvation was completed on the cross. We worship on Sunday, the
first day of the week, just as the early church, “Now
on the
first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break
bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and
continued his message until midnight”
(Acts
20.7). Although
this could be a point of division, Hebrews 10:24 reminds us,
“And
let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner
of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see
the Day approaching“.
If
you have experienced God’s forgiveness, every day is the Lord’s!
Next,
Moses commands, “Take
and offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to
the Lord and offering“.
Four more times we read, “everyone
who was willing”
gave unto the Lord. As we will read later, they gave so much Moses
had to tell them to STOP giving! As we have seen over and over, God
judges the heart’s attitude, not the outward actions, Hebrews 4:12
says, “For
the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged
sword, and piercing as far as the division of the soul and spirit, of
both joint and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and the
intentions of the heart“.
Larry Burkett used to say, “How you handle your money is just
an outward indicator of what is going on spiritually in your life”.
Giving is an act of obedience and worship, and both blessings are
lost if you are giving under compulsion from anyone other than the
Holy Spirit of God.
Again,
we read that God chose men to do the skilled work of the design and
construction of the Tabernacle, “And
He filled them with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and
knowledge in all kinds of crafts“.
God can and will give you super-natural talent to do otherwise
ordinary tasks because we are a reflection of Him to all those around
us. God desires excellence because we represent Him if we are called
by His name. If you call yourself a Christian, you should understand
that others are judging your God by your example. We are also told
that God gave “the
ability to teach others”
and He “filled
them with skill to do all kinds of work“.
Whatever work you do, remember Ephesians 6:6, work “not
by way of eye service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves to Christ,
doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service,
as to the Lord, and not to men“.
May God give you joy in your work today.